A Dreamer In Moonlight
by Pardra
Summary: [Slight AU] Before the dawn of Reploids. The youngest son of Light has just awakened, and nothing will ever be the same. Children have little time for their fathers' feuds, and X was always drawn to Wilybots...
1. Consummatum Est

AN: This is one I've been working on for a while. There is plot to it but that's for later, be patient. For now it's mostly short, related oneshots: Honestly that's all this fic was originally supposed to be…..and then the plot bunny came….So, yes, I do have several fics going at once, why? I get tired of writing for only one fic, which is what happened with Unlaced.

Anyway, enjoy.

Empire Dreams

Prologue

Consummatum Est

…L…

His hands were tired and worn; his eyes burned beneath heavy eyelids, but he was smiling. He was finally finished with his creation. It was his ultimate creation and probably his last, other than the capsules.

Thomas smiled and let his weathered right hand rest on the android's head, threading his fingers through the soft brunet strands. He'd done a marvelous job with the frame at the very least, though he still wasn't sure if this free-willed robot would be just as personable as his previous ones, or if the Three Laws changed something intrinsic in a robot. He wasn't sure how the child would be personality-wise: He hadn't been activated yet, despite Thomas' desire to speak to his son.

Synthetic muscle and skin made for a very convincing human appearance. Along with a sweet, youthful face that made him look no different from a teenaged human boy; his exterior at least would keep him from too much scrutiny should he ever venture out into society.

As if silently bidden, Thomas opened his eyes to see hazy green slits instead of the usual blank, dilated optics, or the closed lids he'd been used to seeing for the past several years. "X?" He called quietly.

Thomas doubted he'd receive a response as the little android was _incredibly_ young, and it could take weeks before he began speaking. It took Robot Masters some time to mature, and as he'd designed X to be more human-like. It was highly likely the child would take far longer to develop than his others had.

As he'd expected, the newbuilt didn't respond. X didn't even blink at him.

Thomas just smiled and patted him gently on the shoulder. After a moment the green eyes closed again…. Thomas had done a good job; if this really was his final creation he was satisfied. The old roboticist let his left arm rest on the slab beside the slumbering child, then he brought his head down on top of it, pillowed on his white coat. His tired eyes slid closed once again, and his right hand gave X's hair one more loving stroke.

Yes. He'd done well.

….L….

AN: Well? Thoughts?


	2. Roll

AN: Hello, good-bye, I'm finishing this up at 6 in the morning after five hours of sleep. I apologize for any mistakes, but I'm going to be gone for a bit and wanted the chapter out before I leave. I may change some things around later.

A Dreamer in Moonlight

Chapter 1

Roll

—

"Dr. Light!" She called for the third time in the past five minutes. She jammed her hands onto her hips, staring sternly down into the entrance to the lab as if she were admonishing her father rather than the dim stairway. Either the man was so engrossed in something and really didn't notice her yells or he _could_ hear her and was blatantly ignoring her.

Roll huffed short-temperedly, glancing over her shoulder at the plate of food growing cold on the table. No, she wouldn't have it: If the man had his way he'd never leave his lab. She was going to at _least _make him eat his meals upstairs.

She made up her mind and started down the stairs, careful not to trip on any wires at the landing. It was dim in the lab, lit blue only by computer screens. Roll hadn't been down here much lately; with her father's work on his newest creation reaching a fever pitch, good-tempered or not, he didn't take kindly to any distractions—like a bot frantically trying to clean dust off of his monitors. If she was particularly unlucky, and Dr. Light was particularly energetic she'd find herself leaning over her partially unfinished brother for upward of ten minutes while her father discussed his progress.

Yes, Roll had not been down here in a while, but she knew where her target was. She made her way directly to the slab where she and several of her brothers had been made—including her youngest brother. The housekeeping bot halted to take in the scene before her: Her father was passed out in his desk chair, his head resting on the space between X's left side and the edge of the table—there was quite a lot of room, given most Lightbots were bigger than Blues, Rock, herself, and X and had been created on that table—she would have been concerned if she couldn't hear Dr. Light's snoring from here.

Roll turned her attention to X then, satisfied that her father was sleeping and not ignoring her. The infant robot was offline, but it was really more of a doze than sleep. He could wake at any time it seemed: No wonder her father had remained down here rather than returning to his own bed to get a good rest. It would be a travesty if the child woke alone.

Well, there was no time to admire how adorable X was, or marvel at how he looked like an older Rock and Blues out together, there was dinner getting cold on the table. She stepped up behind Dr. Light and put a hand on his shoulder, "Dr. Light? There's dinner on the table…. Wake up, you can't keep sleeping like this, you'll hurt your back."

The doctor woke up with little reluctance, sitting up immediately and looking at X rather than her, as if he'd thought X had been the one speaking to him. But X wouldn't be speaking to anyone for quite a while now if her calculations were correct. Dr. Light glanced back at her, then rubbed at his eyes and uttered a great yawn.

"I'm late for dinner again? I'm sorry, Roll," he chuckled ruefully, as though amused by her annoyance. "I promise once we've got your brother situated I'll be timelier."

She nodded but looked a little skeptical, "Things won't be the same though. I certainly hope _he_ will come when I call." All of the Lightbots except her seemed to like dallying until the last possible moment, especially when chores were involved. "And I hope he doesn't track mud like Rock."

Dr. Light chortled again as he made his way up the stairs, leaving Roll behind. She made no motion to follow him. "Well, Roll, it'll be up to you to teach him important things, just like Rock and I."

The Robot Master considered that even as her father disappeared from view. X was the first non-industrial Lightbot to be built in…since she and Rock were born, and even then they had purposes as assistants. X would be completely without motive or drives.

_Important things…?_ She moved closer to the infant robot, leaning over him as best she could. He really did look like Rock, and there was no denying the…Blues-ness of him either. But she knew that underneath his eyelids his optics were green; X wasn't Rock, or Blues, he wouldn't be like any of them, and they were all determined to make sure of that.

"I'll teach you to cook," she told him suddenly, her expression serious and thoughtful. "And I'll teach you to clean. I know it doesn't sound very spectacular, but I can't teach you to fight, or defend yourself like Rock or Blues. Sometimes, when you can't be a big help it's good to do little things instead."

She leaned away then, and went back up the stairs without another word.


	3. Blues

Dreamer In Moonlight

Chapter 2

Blues

WARNINGS: Uh, I've never written sci-fi before last year as opposed to 8 years of fantasy and it probably shows in this chapter? What, I think that deserves fair warning.

_B_

When Rock first informed him, years ago, that Dr. Light was, "Making a baby brother for us!" Blues hadn't been surprised or thrilled. The doctor manufactured new "little brothers" at a constant rate; younger units who would work tirelessly and eagerly at their designations before the government decided they had outlived their usefulness and had become targets for Wily, and then they would be retired and scrapped like DLNs…. some number of his brethren he'd rather not compute. Something must have caught Rock's attention with this one. Maybe it was cute, or Light had let him help design it, it didn't matter.

As years and DLNs went past Blues kept brushing off mentions of baby brothers. Didn't he realize they were all going to die? Still, some concern for Rock had led him here, to this place of memories and deceptive warmth. Rock wasn't in the lab, nor was the Doctor, but there was an unsealed capsule here. And inside it was what he felt, beyond doubt, was the object of Rock's frequent attention.

Despite common sense and wariness warning him away from the capsule, and the lab itself, Blues stepped closer. He supposed he could understand Rock's fascination with it…

The thing in the capsule was on its side. Blues felt a quiver of concern that it might be defective, or had very intricate systems, and that was why production had persisted so long. The placement was not a natural position for the average Robot Master, given the placement of armor and sockets. Yet had Rock not said it was awake and functional not even a week ago? Perhaps it had met some end down here, or there was some wound at its back. It wouldn't surprise him if Light had sent a newbuilt out to fight and the bot had nearly gotten itself killed due to lack of sense.

A quick examination of its back showed it to be untouched.

The thing startled him more by stretching and yawning and then looking at him with huge green eyes. Blues opened his mind superficially to greet the younger unit and establish his dominance as the eldest Robot Master. To his surprise the neural functions of the newbuilt felt bizarre, alien, and he wasn't immediately responded to. The consciousness on the other end of the link was light and fluttery, unlike any other Robot Master he'd ever met.

Blues shrugged off his confusion and began examining the newbuilt's systems.

Light had finally reached senility, this poor little bot was evidence of it. A single processor that obviously wasn't designed to manage multiple external systems for extended periods; a small fusion generator that mimicked the human heart so well that it couldn't be distinguished by shape or sound alone; there was a solar generator in stand behind an awkward primary core that wired into another apparently useless system. How much power did one domestic robot need to accumulate? There was no logical explanation for that design other than Light's senility.

The composition of the robot was excellent: Light-weight, titanium-based, extremely durable, he saw nothing detrimental in it—except that the newbuilt could easily be destroyed if caught out of armor. The external appearance was a rare humanoid. Very humanoid. Undersized, harmless male, attractive—if you went by what humans found attractive—, between the ages of fourteen and eighteen roughly (he wasn't well-versed in human young, especially the males). All findings were pointing to an occupation more befitting a DWN: Infiltration.

Blues almost frowned, but moved on to other systems. The weapons systems were impressive; weapons copy, dangerous, highly adaptable. Blues searched for the unit's specifications and purpose and found the slots blank. Why were they blank? Light really was insane if he thought a Robot Master with free-floating bits of coding in its processor was complete and execution ready.

He would have grumbled had he been human; but he wasn't, so instead he stewed behind his visor and scanned sullenly.

Even the neural wiring on the child was awkward—strangely human and distinctly male. So Light had finally created a defined gender in artificial life, but what was the point in that? There wouldn't be any other male companions for him with the exception of Light and Light was….different from a normal human companion. Wouldn't it feel isolated being the only gendered AI?

Perhaps Blues was thinking too much, it—he, probably wouldn't care. But didn't gendered beings usually seek individuals of the opposite gender? Blues couldn't imagine a robot becoming involved with a human female—at the very least, it would end badly, possibly with death. Or lawsuits. There wouldn't be any "female" AIs for it to pursue—unless Light had this one's "Eve" hidden away in the lab somewhere—because the doctor would probably be dead before he finished its frame. He was getting old and getting slower. Rock lamented it often but Blues saw it as nothing but inevitability: Humans died and they died often.

Plus, there was the issue of incest.

Ah, infiltration or communications, that could be it? He applauded Light's backbone in creating the unit, but this Robot Master smacked of Wily. Blues' weapon systems twitched to high alert as something warm landed on his right hand. He looked down and saw clumsy fingers picking at his glove. The newbuilt seemed fascinated by these unarmored coverings.

Blues watched it, pawing and staring, without moving. Was it examining him or simply playing? Without higher connectivity functions this Robot Master would rely on other senses, much like a human, so it was likely. Perhaps it was not as harmless and uncoordinated as he'd first thought: Now it knew he was unarmored, vulnerable. But no, he was giving too much credit to the child.

How were its Three Laws coded? He'd been interrupted before he'd gotten that deep into its programming. He finished his scan of the newbuilt and froze at the designation. This was worse than he'd speculated.

DLN-X. ROCKMAN X.

_DLN-X?_ Light had built numbers with letters in their serials before; they were usually experimental units. And where Oil did not have any fearsome powers, he was efficient. However Time's untested abilities posed a threat so real he'd debated eliminating the unit before slotting him in with the other DLNs under him. Time (and Flash) could be controlled if their power proved to be too dangerous, but this Number didn't seem to even register Blues' presence beyond the physical, and fluttered awkwardly in response to his queries.

Perhaps when it matured it would stabilize into a more tractable Robot Master, right now it was just a child. Still, that designation disturbed him: "Rockman X". Was it supposed to be Rock's successor should he become incapacitated, or was he meant to be Rock's partner?

In his experience with humans, "X" usually did not have friendly connotations. Was this newbuilt meant to replace Rock entirely?

_Blues! _Came an ecstatic cry, followed by the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs.

And with that, he knew Rock had found him.

—

AN: Really sorry this is so late. I'm finally feeling better, but I've been un-inclined to write of late—probably due to college. The title is some obscure reference to poetry or some quote I've forgotten….I've been thinking about changing the title, but I'm not certain. Reviews are appreciated.


	4. Rock

A Dreamer in Moonlight

Chapter 3

Rock

—

AN: Is this an update? This is an update, isn't it? Brain what are you doing?

—

Dr. Light had warned him that X was now fully functional, and could come online at any minute during the next few days. Roll and Rock had urged him to delay bringing X out of hibernation until he was feeling well again, but their concerns were waved aside with a kindly smile:

"He's been through enough diagnostics that I feel I can safely bring him online without my supervision." It went unsaid that Dr. Light had seen the little one awake more than once, though not exactly aware.

Rock felt almost as though Light _wanted_ Rock to be the one around when he first woke up. Be that as it was, they were both there when he finally woke up on a rainy Friday night.

The little Lightbot was perched on a chair beside the open capsule, an E-can in his hand. He wondered, would the newbuilt like some when he woke up? Or would that not be necessary? Faint movement tore his attention away from his own thoughts, and moved his gaze toward the newbuilt. He peered at him with barely contained excitement as X's optics fluttered open.

Rock was a little surprised when the child had opened his eyes. They were brilliant and soft and took in everything with endearing wonder. And they were green.

Rock had to muse on the choice of optic coding. Pale blue eyes were almost mandatory for any creation of Light Labs; like Father's insignia, they marked the Lightbots as, well, Lightbots. Galaxy was the only exception that immediately popped up in his memory banks, but his optics were digital, like an alarm clock's numbers.

He knew X bore a lot of resemblance to himself, except he was more advanced, but unlike some of the others, he wasn't worried about that. Rock wasn't afraid of being replaced. His father loved him, and every one of his brothers and sisters. X was just a baby, there was no need to be afraid of such a little thing being a threat to him in any way. It didn't bother him that X looked like him; brothers were supposed to look alike, right?

He had to question the armor though—the newbuilt wasn't wearing it now—not that it didn't look nice, it just seemed very plain and unassuming for such a special 'bot. And an awful lot like his own armor: Not that that bothered him.

His—_their_, father had been watching quietly at his desk while X struggled to orient himself; now he was making his way toward them, shuffling slowly and trying not to alarm the newbuilt.

The android twisted his neck into angles Rock knew it wasn't meant to comfortably twist in, apparently unwilling to use more of his body as he scanned his surroundings.

"He's _cute_!" Rock exclaimed in a barely contained whisper.

Dr. Light made a breathy noise of amusement that had the newbuilt eyeing him—almost upside down. Rock worried he'd hurt his neck and reached out to correct his spine. The newbuilt jumped violently, unused to being touched. Frantic green eyes stared at his hands as if they were something both terrifying and intriguing.

"It's okay! I just wanted to move you so you're more comfortable, but I guess you did that already…. You're so _cute_!" He repeated, as if surprised. Was this why so many people liked him? If he was half this cute, Rock understood.

He reached out to touch the newbuilt's silky brown hair, the little thing almost driving itself cross-eyed trying to watch his hand. Rock was in love.

Dr. Light went to bed, X went offline again with no indication of when he'd wake up again. But it was alright: Whenever he did, Rock or Roll would be there, he was going to make sure of it.

So, Rock was careful to sit with X every day, talking about everything he was going to show his baby brother, resisting to urge to try to poke him awake. And then Roll or Light would try to shoo him out of the lab. But it was okay, because he always came back.

He wasn't going to leave his little brother alone. Ever.

"Blues!" Rock called, rushing over to hug him. The elder Robot Master didn't return the hug, save for a stiff pat on the shoulder, but Rock didn't care.

He'd been coming down to check on X: This was an unexpected bonus.

Rock's eyes were bright with excitement as he looked up at his brother. X stared at the two of them with optics that were alert, but curious, and uncomprehending.

"Did you come to see X?" Rock babbled, gripping Blues' coat excitedly, despite the mild sense of disapproval coming from Blues. "Look at him, isn't he cute? Oh, I knew you were really interested all those times before!"

Even when Blues had only grunted or nodded at what he was saying. Blues had paid attention to what he'd said, and that made him feel warm.

"Rock, we have some things we need to discuss—"

"About X?"

Blues blinked at being interrupted, surprised. Rock was practically vibrating with excitement. "Yes, about X."

"Oh," Rock settled down to a more manageable level of energy as he recalled something. "But X can't talk yet."

"I noticed. I have no interest in speaking with him yet."

"Oh…..I guess you want to hurry?" That Blues was here, in light's home, in Light's _lab_ was a miracle in itself. Maybe Blues was finally getting over his fears?

Oh, well, he'd make Blues talk to X later….. Blues thought X was cute, too, right? Rock tilted his head and asked his older brother just that.

Had Blues any less self-control, he would have lifted an eyebrow at the younger unit's behavior. Rock knew X wasn't a kitten, didn't he?

—

AN: Oh look, a sort of regular update. Reviews are appreciated, particularly specific ones.


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